Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], May 3 (ANI): Indian males’s hockey crew skipper Harmanpreet Singh mentioned that the brand new chief coach of the nationwide facet, Craig Fulton, has a well-structured plan for the crew this 12 months and brings new vitality to each session.
The crew is presently making ready for the European leg of the FIH Hockey Pro League underneath newly-appointed Chief Coach Craig Fulton.
“We had our first meeting with new Chief Coach Craig Fulton on Saturday morning. He brings great energy to every session and has a well-structured plan for us this year. We have good momentum right now, having done well in the home games of the Pro League. The idea is to go into the European leg with the same confidence,” mentioned the skipper as quoted by a Hockey India press launch.
“We will have a good 45 days to prepare for the Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023 after we return from the Pro League. Doing well in the Asian Champions Trophy at home will definitely set us up for a good show in the Asian Games. We are thankful to the Tamil Nadu government for extending their support and hosting this mega event in Chennai,” added Harmanpreet.
India’s European leg of the FIH Hockey Pro League will begin from May 26 towards Belgium. It will finish on June 11 towards Argentina.
With three months to go for the Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai, there may be an air of pleasure among the many members of the Indian Men’s Hockey Team who’re wanting to play on dwelling turf once more. This would be the seventh version of the coveted Asian Champions Trophy and it’s scheduled to be held from August 3 to August 12 2023 serving as a precursor to the Hangzhou Asian Games in September.
Barring taking part in Japan at dwelling on the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela, it has been some time since India took on Asian giants on the house turf, notably in South India the place worldwide hockey is returning after a spot of 16 years. “It will be quite a thrilling experience not just for us but also for the spectators. I am hopeful all the hockey fans will turn up in big numbers again to watch us play against some of our top rivals in the Asian continent,” mentioned Harmanpreet Singh on the sidelines of their coaching session in SAI, Bengaluru.
While the crew continues to enhance on their shortcomings, they’ve additionally added new success mantras to their routine. “Since this is going to be a tough year with back-to-back events, we are working on keeping ourselves fresh mentally and physically. Yoga has been added to our weekly routine and it has helped a great deal in channelizing our focus and has done a world of good to our flexibility as well,” added the skipper, who’s main the charts for max objectives within the ongoing Pro League.
The Indian Men’s Team gained the Asian Champions Trophy Title within the inaugural version held in 2011 and beat Pakistan within the Final to win the Title in 2016.
In the next version in 2018, India had been the joint winners with Pakistan after rain affected the proceedings of the ultimate in Muscat. In the earlier version in 2021 in Dhaka, the Indian Team completed the marketing campaign with a bronze medal. (ANI)